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Arc & Iveagh is going places: Introducing 'The Andean Passage' collection
First came the British Isles. Now, the menswear brand has set its sights on South America, with a new collection inspired by the craft, culture and landscapes of the Andes...
- Words by: Jonathan Wells
A wardrobe, really, is a doorway of sorts. It has a handle, hinges and, most importantly, possibility. Imagine, then, opening its doors to find yourself confronted not by clothes, but by the windswept islands of the Outer Hebrides, or the vast, golden-tan sands of the Atacama. That’s the thinking at Arc & Iveagh, where every collection strives to capture the world beyond your wardrobe.
Founded by Maryland-based entrepreneur Ryan Quinlan, the brand unveiled its maiden collection last autumn. Striking out as it meant to go on, the collection was devised as a passport to a particular destination: a well-stitched, finely designed postcard of a capsule created to transport the wearer to one far-flung region. It’s a canny idea, and that first collection, ‘Odyssey of the Isles’, took inspiration from our very own shores.
From the Scottish Highlands to the Cotswolds, coastal Ireland to traditional Savile Row tailoring, the range wove a trim tale of the British Isles. A year on, a second collection has touched down — this time a doorway onto the Andes, to Argentina, Peru and Chile, called ‘The Andean Passage’.
The Domador Ranch Coat
The Cóndor A2 Bomber
Think ranch coats and beautiful belted cardigans. Think rich leathers, horn buttons, alpaca wool and antique copper trims. Thirteen pieces make up the new collection, from outerwear and tailoring to accessories. And each is rooted in South America, built solely around the region’s materials, makers and traditions. That, Quinlan says, is what sets Arc & Iveagh apart.
“I spent years travelling,” he adds. “Over fifty countries, sometimes for work, but mostly just out of love for people and places. The brand started there. I wanted to make clothes that carried some of that with them. Not souvenirs, but garments with a real sense of place, made properly.”
It’s a job well done. Particular highlights of the first collection were the Balmoral Polo Coat, woven from genuine Harris Tweed and finished with a handsome half-martingale belt, and the Cairngorms Field Explorer Jacket, which, with its brass snaps and classic chocolate corduroy collar, felt like something you might have found hanging, decades-old, in your grandfather’s wardrobe.
The Altiplano Waxed Cotton Barn Jacket
The Andean Passage has a similar sense of place. “It’s the collection where the world of the brand really comes to life,” says Quinlan. “The first collection proved we could make clothes. This one says what kind of brand we are. And, this year, the Andes aren't a theme — they're the reason the alpaca, the artisans and the landscape are in the garments at all.”
So how does Arc & Iveagh decide where to visit next? Is it a riffle through old family photo albums? A serendipitous spin of a globe? No, says Quinlan. In fact, there’s a rigorous three-step process in place before any decision is made. Firstly, it must be a place with a legacy of adventure and exploration. “A little bit of history paired with a little bit of mystery,” he says.
The Altiplano Waxed Cotton Barn Jacket
The Cóndor A2 Bomber
The Baquiano Denim Work Jacket
Secondly, it must have a rich textile tradition, or a reputation for producing fine fabrics. “We want the craft to be real,” says Quinlan, “not decorative.” And, finally, the area itself must be sufficiently breathtaking, so that it can inspire and inform every garment. “Its landscapes, its weather, its ruggedness. They should work their way into the pieces.”
The many vistas of the Andes, from Mount Aconcagua to Lake Titicaca, have been worked on and watched over for thousands of years, by everyone from the warriors of the Incan Empire to the master gauchos of today. That’s a lot of history and tradition to draw on. And yet the brand seems to have distilled this South American spirit as effectively as a fine, floral Pisco. Just look at the Altiplano Barn Jacket, replete with a flock of functional pockets for storage and warmth. Or the Atacama Anorak, wind-proof, water-resistant and primed for even the harshest hike across the páramo, the Andes’ high-altitude alpine tundra.
But that’s the point, says Quinlan. “The clothes come first, everything from fabric, construction, function for the end-user. With the region as the foundation for everything. And, if wearing it piques your curiosity about getting out and exploring a little more of the world, then our clothes are doing their job.”
How could they not? Even the names of the pieces capture the romance of the region. ‘Domador’ means ‘horse-tamer’. ‘Apu’ translates as ‘mountain spirit’. Even ‘Capac’ was a legendary leader of the Incan people. And this reverence, too, is clear in the campaign, captured in a short film called The Reservation, made in collaboration with NYC creative company, NOISE. Arc & Iveagh travelled across Argentina and Peru to photograph the new pieces, as much to exhibit the collection as put it to the test. By motorcycle, helicopter and horse — through snow, jungle and desert — the brand took every piece to the place that inspired it. Less a showcase, more a homecoming.
"Not souvenirs, but garments with a real sense of place…”
It’s a grand idea, and — although we’re only two collections in — a vision that so far seems remarkably realised. Quinlan, however, doesn’t shy away from the challenges of founding a new label. “On paper, I had no business starting a menswear brand,” he says, “let alone having the creative vision for the design and the campaigns.”
And yet, after his third daughter was born (the initials of his three girls, Andy, Riley and Callie, spell ‘Arc’), Quinlan spent his sleepless nights building the brand while watching Daniel Craig’s James Bond films. Coincidentally, Skyfall sees 007 travel to rural Scotland, and Quantum of Solace places him in the Atacama — much like Quinlan himself, although the founder isn’t so quick to the Bond comparisons. “The whole concept started as what I like to joke was an early mid-life crisis,” he says.
The Domador Ranch Coat
The Atacama Anorak
But the real punchline could be how well it’s worked. That’s likely down to the creation of the pieces — as mass manufacture this is not. “We make everything in small batches, admittedly out of necessity, but also by choosing the right maker for each garment. Sometimes the material comes from the region itself; sometimes it's one artisan-made piece per collection, like the cardigan hand-knit in Lima.” That would be the Espíritu Pampa Belted Cardigan: 100% alpaca yarn, 250 hours of hand-knitting, Andean motifs commissioned from an Argentine artist and fine silver buttons. Only 35 will ever be made.
“The point is never unwanted scale,” says Quinlan. “When we design a collection, we hold true to the idea that everything we make earns its place.”
‘Place’. It’s an interesting word with which to end because, after all, it’s at the centre of everything Arc & Iveagh does — and the question to which they always return. But, with a whole world to explore through those wardrobe doors, the only question really worth asking is: what place comes next?
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